The Sweden captain feels the Bernabeu new-boy will struggle to justify world record price-tag.
Gareth Bale will find it tough to cope with the intense pressure of playing for Real Madrid and being the most expensive footballer in the world, says Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Bale moved to the Spanish capital for a world record £86 million last month and Ibrahimovic, speaking on a BBC Radio 5 live documentary to be aired on Wednesday, fears the 24-year-old could crumble should he fail to live up expectations of an intolerant Madrid fan-base.
The Sweden captain has experience of making a similar big-money to Spain having joined Barcelona from Inter for £56m in 2009, leaving the Nou Camp after one unhappy season, and he feels Bale will have to scale the same heights as Zinedine Zidane to be considered a success at the Bernabeu.
“I think nobody is worth paying that amount of money for. What is crazy in this kind of situation is the media and the club – the club are desperate to buy big names,” the Daily Mail report.
“There is a lot of pressure on him. I know that Zidane played for Real Madrid and they [the fans] whistled against him. Zidane is one of the best players in history.
“I hope that Bale has a lot of patience.”
Bale could make his Madrid debut on Saturday against Villarreal after coming off the bench for Wale to play half-an-hour in their 3-0 World Cup qualification defeat to Serbia on Tuesday night.
COMMENTS